NOTHING could show more clearly than the Free Frall, College last night, how desperately Dance Fest 97 needs an artistic director to set standards. Of the 10 items on the programme the majority were overlong, self indulgent or inept.

It would, however, have been worth seeing for J.J. Formento's Field of Blood alone, as his black skirted figure movingly evoked the killing fields in starkly simple movement to Alfred Schnittke's Prelude from Concert Grosso 1.

He and Judith Sibley also gave a fine performance of Adrienne Brown's interesting duet, Love is a Beautiful Bondage Too, set to the music of Van Morrison. The third piece new to me which did not outstay its welcome was Kevin Murphy's The Man Behind the Pillar, in which the dancer/choreographer showed a commendable musical sensitivity, while Jenny Roche's The Lady's Reward had its moments.

Otherwise, the dancers' free for all was unfair to a captive audience.